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How did Lakshmi Bai become the regent of Jhansi?

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Illustration of De Kantzow defending the treasury at Mainpuri during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, showing a British officer confronting armed sepoys inside a building as tensions rise during the uprising. — Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian sepoys (soldiers) corner a British officer amid their attack on a treasury in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh.

Lakshmi Bai did not become the regent of Jhansi through a formal or peaceful transition of power; rather, she assumed the role during the chaos of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.1

Following the death of her husband, Maharaja Gangadhar Rao, the British governor-general Lord Dalhousie refused to recognize their adopted son as the legitimate heir. Under the doctrine of lapse, the British annexed Jhansi in 1854 and rejected Lakshmi Bai’s petition to serve as regent, relegating her to the status of a pensioner.213

When the rebellion reached Jhansi in 1857, local rebels captured the fort and massacred the British residents stationed there. In the wake of this uprising, Lakshmi Bai was proclaimed the regent of Jhansi, allowing her to rule on behalf of her minor son and lead the resistance against the East India Company.14